Monday, July 28, 2014

Marshland Boardwalk & Mermaids

After
welcome heavy rains overnight, the fields were too wet for planting this
morning. After a session of weeding and watering the basil beds in the
greenhouses, Gundi and I decided to have some time off. After a pleasant lunch
at Dougall’s on the Bay in Brighton, we drove to the gem of a park on LakeOntario
that is Presqu’Ile. Our favourite walk
there is a gentle one along the recently-refashioned boardwalk through the
expansive marshland, with vistas opening up to the bay and open water beyond.
The variety of grasses, reeds, wild flowers, sedges, lilies, frogs, birdlife is marvellous. The
strong breeze from the north clearing out the last of the rain weaved patterns
through the long grasses as they danced with abandon.

After the boardwalk we headed to the grassy
parkland and limestone-ledge beachfront of LakeOntario.
Sheltered from the north, all was calm, the lake a mirror in shades of grey, dark at the horizon
where it met the layers of lighter grey sky. Gundi
flipped off her sandals and waded out in the shallows to a rock on which to
perch, thus becoming my mermaid.

As
she returned after a meditative spell on the rock, she bent down to pick up a
beautiful treasure – Mermaid #2. We have encountered this serendipity before,
where we are spellbound by the aura of the scene, resulting in a most
beautiful, almost miraculous find. (On a beach on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state many
moons ago, Gundi spent the day beachcombing, amassing a huge collection of
elliptical grey stones. I frivolously requested around stone, at which prompting she bent down
to pick up a perfect heavy charcoal grey sphere). Back to Mermaid #2… We like
to fantasize that she came up from afar, in the deep, landing moreorless into
our arms. She is not made of plastic, nor plaster, but porcelain. She has
become the second mermaid in my world.